Account by 'A Sieber' (in German) describing the fall of Tsingtau and 'The Raid of the Emden' (in English)
c 1914
Australian National Maritime Museum
Sydney, Australia
These accounts of the fall of Tsingtau (Qingdao) and the raid of the EMDEN in late 1914 were written in an Australian school text book by German prisoners of war at the Liverpool camp, near Sydney, NSW.
Sieber's account of the fall of Tsingtau patriotically describes the defence of the German colony against an overwhelmingly superior Japanese force. At the same time EMDEN was raiding the Indian Ocean, the Germans held out in a 3 month siege that ended on 7 November, just before the Battle of Cocos on 9 November.
The 'Raid of the Emden' is in English and was recorded or transcribed probably by one of the Australian prison guards from the diary of an EMDEN crew member.
Collection of material relating to the German WWI raider SMS EMDEN and crew members who were taken prisoner and interned at Liverpool, NSW, during the war.
- Title: Account by 'A Sieber' (in German) describing the fall of Tsingtau and 'The Raid of the Emden' (in English)
- Date: c 1914
- Location: Australia
- Type: Notebook
- Significance: This school exercise book holds German sailors accounts taken down by prison guards in the Liverpool prisoner of war camp between 1914 and 1918. The material is highly significant for the history of Australia's first and arguably most important naval victory. This is an incredibly rare first-hand account of the battle - from the German side - that has not been previously publicly accessible. Material relating to the EMDEN crew's time in the Liverpool prisoner of war camp south west of Sydney is rare and important and shows a side of the conflict that has had little public exposure.
- See institution's online collections: http://www.anmm.gov.au/collections
- Medium: Ink on paper
- Dimensions: 229 × 180 × 5 mm, 99 g
- Credit line: ANMM Collection
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